


open hand or closed fist would be fine

by literatiruinedme



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Photography, Rogue One Anniversary Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 19:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12991377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literatiruinedme/pseuds/literatiruinedme
Summary: The perfect photograph is real, it just needs to be sought out.For the Rogue One Anniversary Week celebration prompt "light & dark"





	open hand or closed fist would be fine

_ 27 March 2015, 21:49 Pacific Standard Time _

_ A cabin rented out in Eugene, Oregon, approximately two hours from Portland, Oregon. _

“Jyn, it's freezing.”

She huffed, looping her scarf around her neck, covering her mouth in the process. “Look, are you going to help me or not?” Her voice came out half muffled behind her scarf.

He sighed, huffing a deep breath out through his nose. “Fine,” he agreed, aware he didn't really have another option. He dropped to the floor, pulling on his boots as he glared up at her. She smiled behind the scarf Leia had made for her last birthday, having heard plans of the picture Jyn  _ needed _ to take. When Cassian stood, he looked annoyed, though he was easily pacified as Jyn pulled a beanie over his head, making sure the tips of his ears were covered. “My mother used to do that,” he murmured quietly, gaze locked on the floor.

Jyn smiled, pulling her scarf down to lean forward, pressing a kiss to his forehead. “She was a smart woman.” Cassian hummed, nodding his head once. “Ready?”

“No,” he mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Perfect,” Jyn smiled, pulling her camera bag on over her head, letting the bag settle at her side. She turned, pulling her hood up over her head before she finally reached for the door handle. “Time for adventure.”

Cassian grunted, begrudgingly following her out the door and into the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. He stopped as soon as they'd made it out the door, eyes wide. He'd never really stopped to look at the world until he met Jyn, but ever since he'd met her, he'd never stopped seeing it. “Incredible.”

“Now you see why I need that photo,” she smiled, taking his hand in hers, leading him away from their cabin to her designated location. She'd been planning this one shot in particular for  _ years _ , always so excited when she described it, an unmatchable fire in her. He smiled, watching her lead the way, her eyes lit up in a way he'd never seen before.

They'd met in a war-torn country; her, the daring photographer constantly getting in his way, and him, the (now retired) United States Army Captain. The first photograph she'd taken of him had been her favourite image ever captured. He had been ordering someone to do something, having finally lost his patience with their incompetence, when he'd noticed her, something short-circuiting in his brain.

(She'd always joked that it had been the moment he had fallen in love with her and  _ she'd _ been the one to document it.)

(He'd never tell her that she was right, her ego would explode.)

She slowed when they reached a clearing, finally stopping as she looked up, taking in every single star she could. “Isn't it beautiful?” Cassian hummed, hand settling at the small of her back, the layers and layers of winter fabric doing nothing to dull the heat she always felt when he did so. She lifted the camera up to her eye, quickly going about picking the best angle. He listened as the camera shuttered, snow crunching beneath her feet as she walked off, before he sat down in the snow, watching her. She tilted the camera this way and that, her attention never on one space for too long.

She walked back over to him sometime later, flicking through her photos, her fingerless gloves making him frown. “You're going to catch a cold,” he sighed, laying out on his back. She hummed, not bothering to look up from her camera until she was standing a few feet from him. She froze mid step, making him tense, sitting up at her sudden stop. “What?” Cassian asked, cocking a brow as she walked over to him holding out her pinky. “Jyn?”

“Favour?”

_ Photo _ . Her asking for a favour meant,  _ can I use you for a photo _ ?

He groaned, letting his head fall back again. He sighed, ripping his glove off, holding his hand out to her, her frozen finger curling around his warm one. She smiled, raising the camera to her eye again. “What?” he whined, though there was a smile on his lips as his eyes slipped shut.

“Sorry,” she breathed, letting her camera fall from her eye for a moment before he nodded, urging her to continue.

“It's okay,” he promised, squeezing his finger around her own.

“One more favour?” she asked, not letting his hand go. He cocked a brow, eyes still shut. When he finally opened an eye to peek up at her, she was smiling so hard he could practically see it through the thick cloth of her scarf. “Would you mind walking out a few more feet and laying down again?”

He sighed, pulling his glove back on. “The things I do for you.”

“Don't be such a drama queen,” she teased, lightly shoving the back of his head when he sat up.

“I'm your muse, I can be whatever the hell I want,” he teased, finally getting to his feet. She chuckled, watching as he walked off, sitting down again a few yards from her. He laid down on his back once more, looking up at the starry sky. “Good?”

“Perfect,” she called back. He smiled, closing his eyes as she continued taking photos, not paying attention to how much time had passed until he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Sleeping Beauty,” she hummed, chuckling when he opened his eyes, blinking her back into focus. “Ready?” She asked, holding out a hand to him. He nodded, taking her hand and letting her help him to his feet. She smiled when he glanced down at her, her scarf pulled down slightly so he could just barely see the curve of her lips.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her close to him as they began the walk back to their rented cabin. “Good photos?”

“Hopefully,” she nodded. “I still need to look through them, but I think they came out pretty well.”

“I'm glad,” he smiled, squeezing her shoulders. She rested her head on his shoulder, letting her eyes close, trusting him to guide her the rest of the way.

When they finally made it back to the cabin, he quickened his pace, making her laugh. “It's not that cold!”

“This is a hell of a lot colder than New Mexico or Iraq!”

“We live in New York!”

“Oregon is colder,” he huffed, unlocking the door as soon as he reached it, quickly letting himself in. Her stripped it off his snow gear, wrapping a blanket around his shoulders as Jyn opened the door. She let out a content sigh when he dared to step closer, her fingers snaking up under his shirt. She grinned when he yelped in surprise. “Jyn,” he scolded, pushing her hands back with a glare.

“I just want to have my hands on you, is that so wrong?” she asked, faking innocence.

“When your fingers are frozen,  _ yes _ ,” he countered, frowning at her.

“Help me warm up?” she purred, leaning up on her toes. Her hands landed on his chest, pulling him close to her. 

“Go download your photos and I'll be up in a few minutes with tea,” he chuckled, brushing his lips along her brow before lightly pushing her towards the stairs.

“Fine,” she groaned, pulling him in for a quick kiss before peeling off her jacket and boots, running up the stairs as he headed towards the kitchen. 

He sighed, picking up her jacket and her boots before depositing them along the wall by the door, stalking off into the kitchen when he finished. He quickly pulled out a kettle, setting it on the stove as he grabbed tea bags, mugs, cream for Jyn, and honey for himself. He leaned back against the counter, resting his eyes as he listened for the kettle to whistle. 

“Cass?” Cassian's eyes shot open as he attempted to blink the world into focus. Jyn gave him a soft smile, stalking across the kitchen to pull the kettle off of the stove. “Why don't you go upstairs and get into bed? I can handle this.”

“No, I can-”

“Please?” she interrupted in a quiet voice. Her way of saying  _ just let me take care of you _ . They both knew they were too stubborn to admit when they were sleep-deprived.

He sighed, leaning forward to press his lips to her forehead. “Okay,” he hummed, nodding once before slowly walking away. “You sure you don't-”

“ _ Go _ ,” Jyn laughed, rolling her eyes with a smile.

“Going,” he assured her, raising his hands above his hands in surrender as he turned. He yawned as he walked away, following the stairs up to their temporary bedroom.

He stripped out of his henley and his jeans before crawling under the covers, biting back a yawn as the warmth of the sheets and the darkness of the room overtook him.

“Cassian?” Jyn murmured, slowly dragging her fingers through his hair. He hummed, slowly opening his eyes. “Were you sleeping?” She teased, biting her bottom lip to avoid laughter.

“No,” he frowned, glancing up at Jyn. He didn't remember her entering, let alone when she pulled his head into her lap and began editing her photos.

“Oh,” she nodded, taking another sip of tea before glancing back down at her laptop. “So you snore while you’re awake now?”

“ _ I do not snore _ ,” he defended, poking her thigh. She shrugged one shoulder, chuckling as she continued playing with the lighting on her photo. Neither of them snored unless they were sick or just  _ that _ exhausted. Though, both of them had their fair share of bruised shins from being kicked awake a little less than gently. “How are the photos?”

“Really nice,” she grinned, hitting save on the file she was fiddling with. “Want to see?” He nodded, leaning up on his elbow to get a better view. She hummed as she ran through her files, clicking on several photos. She showed him a few of the shots she got of the skyline, babbling on about them just as he’d expected, a smile slowly finding its way to his lips as he lost focus on what she was saying and just watched her speak. “But  _ this one _ -” Her emphasis pulled him back, his mind refocusing. She clicked on a file, pulling up the photo of their hands. “This one I really like,” she said while taking a sip of her tea, hiding the slight blush on her cheeks. “I’m thinking of getting it framed.”

“I like it,” he nodded, looking at all the details she'd captured; how pale her hand was compared to hers, the few flakes of snow falling that he hadn’t even noticed at the time, the evidence of a smile in his eyes. “Very nice.”

“I like the contrast of you against the show and how delicate the snow makes the photo look,” she sighed, trying to describe what she saw and why she loved the photo. When he'd taken her to a photography exhibition on their first proper date, she'd spent the whole night going on about each piece and what made it good.

He'd spent the entire night looking at her.

“Oh, wait,” she gasped, scrolling through her seemingly endless files. “Do you want to see my favourite ones?” She was so excited, he couldn’t help but nod his head. “So I have two,” she explained. She quickly clicked on two files.

The first was a photo of him laying in the snow, a sky full of stars splattered out behind him. He smiled at the pose, thinking he looked like an idiot, but he still admired the way she'd captured the shot. “It looks nice.”

“In hindsight it wasn't the best photo, but I still think you look adorable.”

“You just like to see me on my back,” he huffed, nudging her arm.

“Maybe,” she chuckled, leaning down to press her lips to his. She smiled, pulling back from him to look at her laptop again. She did a bit more retouching on the file, nudging him when it was finally complete. “Better?” She'd tweaked the lighting and a few more details, making the image look cleaner.

“You know I don't have an eye for this,” he huffed a laugh.

“You've been acquiring one,” she smiled. “I've been trying to teach you about good photos since that embassy trip. Remember? You got bored and we started looking at my photos?”

“I remember asking if you were stalking me,” he grinned. She scoffed, lightly slapping his shoulder. He sighed, reaching forward to grab her hand and bring it to his lips. “I think it looks nice.”

“Good,” she smiled, squeezing his hand before pulling away to resave the file and closing the photo. “And the second one,” she sighed, clicking another file.

He nodded, wrapping an arm around her as the file loaded. The second was a photo of him, facing the left of the frame, looking up at the night sky. His cheeks were red with cold, the stars reflecting off of his eyes. His lips were parted and there was the faintest hint of a smile. He recognized the treeline from outside their cabin, the frozen lake that faced the cabin lay behind him. He chuckled that she’d managed to catch him off guard. “It’s me,” he said, turning to look up at her with a grin on his face.

She nodded, biting her bottom lip as she played with a few filters on her laptop, raising and lowering a few numbers here and there, the photo becoming more crisp. “It was just...the perfect shot,” she defended, still not meeting his gaze. “I had to take it- but I can delete it, if you want me to. I mean it’ll kill me, but I will, because technically you didn’t know I was-” She only stopped rambling when he sat up, reaching up to trace his knuckles along her cheek. “I was rambling?”

He nodded, offering her a small smile. “It's okay. I love that you get excited over your work,” he promised. “It's warranted, you're very good at what you do.”

Jyn smiled, grabbing his chin and gently guiding his mouth to hers. She smiled against his lips as he easily melted against her. When she pulled away from him, he looked dazed, blinking frantically for a moment.

“You should keep it,” he breathed after a moment. His heart jumped in his chest when he noticed that she was blushing slightly at his compliments. “It’s perfect,” he promised with a smile, brushing his thumb along her cheek. 

“Okay,” she breathed, resting her forehead on his, eyes slipping shut.

“Besides-” He pulled away when she did, laying down next to her again. “If I'd had a choice in being in your photographs or not, we'd have never started dating.”

She hummed, shutting her laptop and setting it down on her nightstand. “You remember that one photo-”

“Jyn,” he groaned, resting his arm over his eyes.

“What?” She chuckled, laying down on her side. She rested her hand on his chest, fingers slowly trailing up and down over his t-shirt. “You looked delicious,” she hummed, biting her bottom lip. She'd tied his arms down, kissed his chest with at least six different lipsticks, and fucked him in his uniform, taking a picture of the aftermath for her own personal inventory. She'd claimed the uniform top as her own as soon as he'd moved up in rank, reminding him about the lipstick stains along the inside every time she wore it.

“You always say that,” he mumbled, curling on his side, his back to her.

She flicked off the lamp beside her, crawling over to wrap her arms around him. “I do,” she nodded, pressing kisses to the back of his neck. “But only because it's true.”

“Bet you said that to every man you took photos of,” he countered sleepily, threading his fingers through hers when her arm snaked around his wait.

“Only you,” she breathed.

He knew it was true. He'd known it since he first laid eyes on her in the dusty town of Qa’im; he'd been ten days into a fight, sleep deprived and frustrated over the incompetency of the men below him...and then he'd seen her standing there with a camera pointed right at him. He'd known he was gone when his eyes met hers and he knew that some small part of her had felt the same when she told him her name. “I know,” he breathed.

She squeezed him gently as she always did when she knew he was getting sappy, pulling him back against her. She pressed a kiss to the shell of his ear, snuggling close to him before they both finally gave into their exhaustion.


End file.
